The 1964 Elections

The Republican convention came first at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Nelson Rockefeller was supposed to be nominated but then he got divorced and re-married. The job went to Barry Goldwater, a nice guy who was a ham radio operator and appeared on the Jack Paar show. At the convention they released gold balloons. The television commentators said the Republicans had fallen off a cliff.

The Democratic convention was held in Atlantic City. The sign on the wall of the Convention Center said "Let us continue". Mrs. Mills was a delegate and we tried to spot her on television but couldn't. Hubert Humphrey gave his famous "But not Senator Goldwater" speech. Johnson followed it up with his "And so do I" speech.

From reading this blog you can probably guess who I was for. Barry Goldwater. I loved being the conservative Republican of the family.

I got aid on this mission from an unlikely source. My mother invited some of her Texas kin-folk up for a few days and they were invited to a cook-out at the Mills. My mother's only male relative in the group went up to everyone and talked about why he liked Goldwater. "Johnson is serving up slop in a silver chalice. It is served up good but it's the same old slop. Now Goldwater is at least doing something to bring decency back to this country."

Johnson won the election. I didn't remain an arch conservative for long. After you get used to it, slop tastes good, if it's served up in a pretty enough plate.

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The Presidential Election of 1960

I remember the presidential election of 1960 as my first exposure to the world of politics and government. As a seven year old I was strongly influenced by the viewpoints of my mother, who was involved in the election herself, albeit in a small way.

I remember especially the carnival aspects of the event. I remember singing "K-E-doluble N- E -D -Y oh he's a jolly good guy. Kennedy and Johnson they are voting in every town. I'll bet you all the beans in Boston...."

The bumper stickers on the car. The bumper stickers on the Mill kids wagon. Wearing campaign buttons to school. A campaign was like a sporting event. A months long sporting event.

The first convention to be broadcast was the Republican Convention. It featured a jowly man on the podium.I remember he said. "I won't be here next time."

My mother said, "Oh he says that every year." The jowly man was Herbert Hoover.

Next up came the Democratic Convention. My mother had a horse in that race. A proud Texan, she was a Johnson supporter all the way. Johnson lost out to Kennedy but our family was placated by his number two position on the ticket.

A few months later, my mother got a phone call from Mrs. Mills, the political activist of the neighborhood. Lyndon Johnson was landing in Newark Airport and they wanted to greet the next Vice President appropriately. Five people showed up at the airport, including someone's daughter. Lyndon Johnson kissed the daughter and talked to my mother about Texas. Paris Texas came up in the conversation.

The night before the election the Dobie Gillis show featured a plot where Maynard would predict the election. At the finale of the he didn"t predict the winner, not toanyone's surprise.

There was a huge snowstorm on Inauguration Day so me and my brother got to stay home and watch the ceremonies on tv. I remember seeing Nixon and Eisenhower in top hats. Cardinal Spellman spoke. "That was for the benefit of the Catholics who got Kennedy elected," Mother informed us. Robert Frost spoke." That's for the benefit of the Harvard intellectuals", Mother informed us. Kennedy then gave the famous "Ask not what your country can do for you speach. I guess that was for the benefit of the slackers who always wanted something from the government.

The next day it was back to school. I remember a voice of a young girl on the radio obstensibly a young Caroline Kennedy. "My Daddy is president..." I just remember the first line.